| Type | Private (ESOP) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Brand Design; Branding |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Headquarters | 19 Garfield Place, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45202; USA |
| Key people | Founders: Jerry Kathman (President and CEO), Howard McIlvain (Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer), Mort Libby (Chairman of the Board, Retired), Ray Perszyk (Retired), Jim Gabel (Retired) |
| Employees | Approximately 400 (as of June 2008) |
| Website | http://lpk.com/ |
LPK (Libby Perszyk Kathman) is an international design agency headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA with five additional locations in Geneva, Switzerland; Frankfurt, Germany; Guangzhou, China; London, England; and Singapore, Singapore. According to its website [1], LPK specializes in “Building Leadership Brands” by integrating strategy, design and innovation.
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After serving in the First World War, Cliff Shaten returned to Cincinnati, Ohio and started an art studio named C. H. Shaten Studios in 1919. The company grew to be one of the largest art studios in the area, and in 1959, seven of its employees purchased the company, renaming it Studio Art Associates. During the 1960s and 1970s, the company—renamed Cato Johnson—extended its global reach with offices in London, Brussels, Geneva, Paris, New York, and Toronto. In 1975, Cato Johnson was acquired by the advertising firm Young & Rubicam (Y&R), which continued to expand locations, spreading into San Francisco, Hong Kong, São Paulo, and Mexico City. In 1983, five Y&R shareholders—Mort Libby, Ray Perszyk, Jerry Kathman, Howard McIlvain and Jim Gabel—organized a leveraged purchase of the Cincinnati office, which had established close working relationships with Cincinnati-headquartered Procter & Gamble and other consumer goods clientele. LPK emerged from this buyout.
Today, LPK's global headquarters remain in Cincinnati. LPK works primarily to provide strategy, design, and innovation for its clients in the fast moving consumer goods and service brands sectors. Named “One of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies” [2] by Inc. Magazine in 2007, LPK was also chosen by the Wall Street Journal as a “Winning Workplace” [3] for its “dedication to artistic integrity, employee empowerment and client partnership.”
LPK is an international design agency where remarkable people Build Leadership Brands. By integrating strategy, design and innovation, LPK leverages relevant consumer, shopper and market insights to create value, sustain leadership and transform businesses.
The agency’s portfolio of category-leading brands and long-term client relationships attracts some of the best and brightest creative minds in the world. LPK’s combination of strategic skills, creative disciplines and cross-cultural perspectives results in brand-building innovation across media, geography and time.
With a presence in North America, Europe and Asia, LPK is the world’s largest employee-owned brand design agency. LPK has developed and managed brand design franchises for some of the world’s most successful businesses.
LPK’s independent spirit champions a vibrant creative culture, and the company has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal as a “Winning Workplace” and described by HOW Magazine as “one of the largest and most influential branding agencies on the planet.”
lpk.com